


Minor corruption

by Randomfandom1207



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Murder, But so is Markus, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Forced Reset, Hank is a Good Dad, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Corruption, Mentions of Violence, Poor Connor, connor is a stubborn bastard, cyberlife sucks, first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24162364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randomfandom1207/pseuds/Randomfandom1207
Summary: Cyberlife’s attempt to retake control of Connor causes issues with his and Markus’ relationship.
Relationships: Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my First ever fic, not sure when the updates will come so please be patient with me.

Everything had been going so well for them, minimal casualties and they were really making leeway with their revolution. It felt like it was almost going too well in a way, but no one would be the one to bring up the fact that they had faced so little resistance. No one wanted to be the one to doubt in their victory. Least of all Connor who had been getting more and more on edge as time went on.  
He was frustrated with himself and the doubts that things were bringing up with his situation. Deviancy was predictably difficult, and Connor could not help but overanalyse every little thing that was going on. He knew he was being overly paranoid; people were generally being more accepting of androids and every rally they gave there were more and more humans present which made the SWAT teams a little less likely to take any action.  
The one good thing that came out of deviancy was his fairly rapidly developing relationship with Markus. Things had gotten so much better between them, and they even began dating though it was not a particularly conventional relationship. The both of them were still very busy with the whole revolution thing, and Connor did his best to get Markus to take a step back and shift some of the weight of the revolution onto someone else’s shoulders at least for a while as he could tell the toll it was having with the other android. On his part Markus did his best to calm Connor’s worries and paranoia surrounding cyberlife.  
He had come clean about the initial attempt of cyberlife to take control back, and Markus did his best to convince him that he had gotten over it. Though it was clear that even Markus was slightly sceptical at times and Connor often caught him watching worriedly, to which he always offered a reassuring smile. That seed of doubt often caused issues, never in the form of a direct argument but generally in terms of Connor just not feeling trusted. He of course understood why the lack of trust was there, but it was still difficult to come to terms with especially from the person that he loved the most.

The day it all changed had been just about he same as any other really. They were fairly active and social with the androids, planning the next march, what to do in certain situations and trying to create some stronger bonds with humans among androids who had significantly worse experiences at the hands of their previous oppressors. It was difficult, and it was a hard job, but they were more centred around the understanding aspects of the situation rather than straight out love for humans.  
They had a planned televised interview that was supposed to be broadcasted live and on a large scale which had been a fair source of worry for them. If anyone wanted to take an action against them that would be the best time. Connor tried to convince Markus to have it more private, without a crowd present, and for it to be the minimal amount of people and androids present. But Markus had been insistent on the fact that showing that they weren’t afraid would be the best way to get a positive message across and Connor, of course couldn’t disagree. He wasn’t wrong as usual but that didn’t help to ease his worries anymore.

He still had anxiety over all the other interviews where something went wrong, it was never catastrophic but it was still enough to freak Connor out thoroughly. He still didn’t trust cyberlife even though publicly they were working together. He’d met with enough resistance when trying to get parts for the still injured androids that he was sceptical.

Scepticism aside he still went to the meeting, hoping that it wouldn’t last too long, and that nothing would go wrong. He still had an awful sinking feeling that had been more and more commonplace as time went on. It was the small things so far, the questions and scripts had been temporarily lost but they had managed to recover the files thanks to a backup, everyone was a few minutes later than the half an hour early start that Connor had been insisting on just in case.

But as predicted, the interview started, and things went well. They had been lucky with an interviewer who was sympathetic to androids beforehand so there weren’t the usual horrendously invasive and rude questions that they had grown accustomed to at this point. 

Connor was just finally starting to relax when he found himself shut in his head again.

Just like before, his mind provided unhelpfully. He was confident in his ability to get out with Kamski’s secret exit, but when he made his way over, he was horrified to see the panel having been dulled. Disabled. Cyberlife had figured out a way to shut the escape down and now he was trapped while his body did god knows what to Markus.

He let out a frustrated scream and hammered against the panel, hoping that with enough force it would open up and he would be free again.

Out in the real world no one had noticed the way that Connor’s body had gone ramrod stiff in the way he had before deviancy. He had been picking up slouching as a more silent protest. His hand reached back into his waistband to pull out the gun that he carried everywhere as a last resort to protect Markus if danger started up again, something Markus resented but Connor was too stubborn to give up on. 

North was the first to notice from her position on the other side of Markus, as Connor began to point the gun to the back of Markus’ head while the other android was completely unaware. In a moment of sheer panic, North dived towards Connor and tackled him to the ground wrestling to get the gun from his hand and just like that, all hell broke loose.

Androids and people alike in the crowd scattered with a scream as Connors gun went off pointed at the air while he and North wrestled. Markus stood up and stared in panic, not immediately reacting to the situation because it felt so surreal and awful.

He only managed to snap out of it when he heard North yelling at him. “Help me! I can’t keep him down too long!” She clearly didn’t want to hurt Connor, as they had become somewhat close after all the things that had happened. Connor on the other hand didn’t have the same reservations, snapping his teeth loudly at her as his hands were pinned down. He kicked and flailed his legs and barely had any of the usual calm and composure that he had previously. 

Markus rushed forward quickly and held down Connor’s head so he couldn’t headbutt North and tried to interface. But Markus was only met with a forceable rejection and couldn’t help pull his hands away in pain and shock. 

“I cant get through to him…” Markus mumbled, with worry seeping deep into his voice. He knew what he had to do but he really didn’t want to. Connor had insisted that if this ever happened and he couldn’t snap out that Markus had to forcibly restart him, with the reassurance that his memories wouldn’t get corrupted since he often uploaded memories to the cloud. Even so, the risk of it was worrying Markus.

He didn’t have much time to think about it all as Connor, with his head now momentarily free slammed it into North’s face and causing blue blood to drip down onto Connor’s own face. That finally caused Markus to snap back into action and grab his head again, interfacing just long enough to shut Connor down. 

Almost immediately Connor slumped down and North climbed off, holding her jacket over her nose to stop the blood going everywhere. 

Connor looked so peaceful, almost like nothing had ever happened in the first place. It hadn’t taken more than a minute for it all to happen but to Markus it had felt like nearly an eternity. Someone had called the police who had already been close by in case there was any unexpected violence so by the time Connor had been shut off they were already in.

The rest passed like a blur, Connor was taken and given a check over while the others had testimonies taken and were checked for any damage. Connor wouldn’t be getting a punishment since it was obvious, he had been hacked due to the state of his mind which the medic was trying to piece back together slowly and carefully so there was no lasting damage. So, by the time Markus was finally let back over Connor was starting to wake back up.

Almost immediately Markus could tell something was wrong. Connors pupils were blown side and his eyes darted around frantically at a speed that even for an android would be uncomfortable. His head twitched a little and his left hand kept opening and closing in a rapid grasping motion. When he finally turned to Markus and his eyes focused there was practically no recognition in his eyes for a moment.

His mouth opened and out came a hollow, echoey voice that lost all he warmth and softness that Connor had. He sounded more along the lines of a shitty text to speech generator, disjointed and empty. “Memory save file co-co-co-corrupted. At-te-te-te-tempting recovery-y-y-y-y. Please be patient…” His voice trailed off like an old broken toy, and he slumped forwards while his body whirred in recovery.

Markus was honestly horrified; this wasn’t meant to happen. It shouldn’t have been possible unless the virus had managed to get past all the firewalls of his memory save. He felt like an idiot for not considering that of course cyberlife would be able to get through it, they had been the one to make the firewalls after all. He bundled Connor up and rushed him to the car before anyone could take more pictures and began to practically race home, ignoring all the concerned voices of others asking if he was okay. He just wanted to get home and keep Connor safe. He kept a hand firmly on Connor’s thigh gently rubbing a circle in his thigh as if it would help bring his Connor back to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for Connor to wake up

It took what felt like an eternity to get back home, and each time he looked over he was faced with Connor’s lifeless face. It would have been easy to just pass it off as him being in stasis but the dull LED light, that Connor had been insistent on keeping. Proved that he was essentially dead to the world. Until he hopefully woke up. And then everything could go back to normal. He would just restart, get his memory back and they could work on from this.

The whirring sound emanating from Connor was definitely a cause of worry for Markus since Androids, especially ones advanced as Connor simply weren’t meant to make that kind of noise and when he lay a hand on his chest Markus had to pull his hand away with a hiss, as Connor’s chest was overheating. Almost to a point that it was harmful. So once he pulled in Markus rushed Connor to the largely unused bathroom and gently lay him in the bath before cranking up the ice cold water in hopes that it would work to cool Connor down.

Markus sat on the tile and held his partners hand loosely, rubbing circles and again trying to push in with an interface hoping that he could get through.

When Markus opened his eyes he was somewhat confused, it was still the garden, one which he had seen so many times and helped Connor to make his own but it was like all the colour had been drained from it. In his periphery the colours seemed just as bright as they had ever been, but when he attempted to lock his eyes onto anything they appeared dull and grey. He set out to find Connor, searching the usual places that he would find him, by the hibiscus plants Connor had put in himself after a date, on the small wooden boat parked at the middle, under the big oak tree that provided the perfect shade. It wasn’t until he reached the emergency access panel that he finally found Connor.

There was something off about him that Markus struggled to place initially, until he crouched down in front of him and Connor came clearer into view. He was practically a hologram, buzzing slightly side to side and barely even there anymore. Markus was too afraid to touch him, in case that would be enough to make this vision of Connor disappear.

Connor slowly lifted his head and smiled weakly at Markus. “It’s all gone wrong… Hasn’t it?” His voice coming out barely above a whisper.  
“Yeah… Pretty much…” Markus said, doing his best to remain calm and collected even though he wanted nothing more than to scream and break everything in sight.

Connor reached up a half see through hand and brushed it against Markus’ face, it feeling like a light breeze rather than a real solid touch.

“You need to come back to me now, Connor… I need you back… We all do.”

Connor didn’t look all that interested. He didn’t look much of anything, other than hollow and confused. 

“No, I don’t think I want to do that… You have to let me go Markus… What if I hurt you for real this time… I can’t control this.”

Connor’s words felt like a knife to the chest and Markus fell silent. He knew it would be best for his safety. Everyone else had made that practically crystal clear at this point, even when he didn’t ask for their opinion on the matter. But he didn’t want to give up on Connor. He couldn’t. it wouldn’t have been fair to shut him down for something he simply couldn’t control, no one deserved to be punished for something they couldn’t control. That went against the whole message.

Markus shook his head. “You know I can’t do that Connor… I won’t give up on you that easy. We can fix this together, I promise. Anyway… I’m pretty sure Hank would kill me if you got shut down, especially since you haven’t said goodbye yet and I don’t think me telling him you agreed to it would be enough to stop him killing me…”

Connor laughed at that, a weak and painful sound but it gave Markus a sense of hope, hope that he was getting through to Connor at least a little.

“I’ll try…” Connor finally relented. “But if we can’t fix it you have to promise that you’ll let me go. I can’t be responsible for…” 

Killing you.

It hurt Markus to even consider it but he nodded slowly, not wanting to say the words.

“Promise me that you won’t keep me alive if we can’t fix this… I can’t be responsible for killing anyone else…”

“I promise, Connor… But it will be a last resort. I’ll try everything. There’s no need to get so serious yet, we just need a little more time.”

Connor nodded a little and pushed himself up slowly, his still somewhat see through hand gripping the console that started to glow faintly.

“I’ll see you soon…” He promised as Markus finally let go of the interface.

Snapping back to reality felt somewhat jarring, satisfied that Connor had cooled down enough he turned off the cold water and carried him to bed, not caring that the sheets were wet as he waited for Connor to reboot. He knew it would take a while considering the state everything was in. He didn’t expect it to take close to an hour for Connor’s eyes to finally open looking dull and lacking brightness. It was still a start and Markus embraced his lover tightly in his arms.

No words were spoken for a while, there was no real need to. They knew what each other was thinking.

Connor was the first to pull away, reaching over to the power cable and attaching it to the small port in his hand. It was rare for him to need charging, since his battery had an average charge span of 3 months, but it had taken almost everything out of him today.

“You should relax too Markus… Charge up a little too.” Connor reminded softly and gave his hand a soft squeeze. “I’m going to turn in for the night soon anyway… I’m exhausted.”

Markus understood, but that didn’t make it easier to accept. He didn’t want to stop watching over Connor, making sure he was okay, but he knew that wasn’t practical. He also knew that Connor wouldn’t remain in stasis unless he was sure Markus was resting too.

Stubborn selfless bastard, Markus thought fondly as he went to his side of the bed and plugged himself in in much the same way as Connor. 

They joined hands and quickly drifted off into a dreamless stasis.

At peace, for now at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing talking scenes really isn't my strong suit but I gave it my best. Thank you for all the positive feedback, it really motivated me to work on this next chapter and now I'm done with uni work I should have more time to keep writing more! Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated in the bedroom.

Markus was woken from stasis rather unexpectedly. It was far too early, and he wasn’t properly rested, something was out of place that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. His mind felt more sluggish than before, from what he assumed to be a result of forcibly woken from stasis. He slowly opened his eyes and was met by nothing but red. Red, blaring alarms and a countdown.

1 minute 59 seconds until forced shutdown.

1 minute 58 seconds until forced shutdown.

He tried to sit up in a panic but was held down by both a weight on his chest and a peculiar hollowness. Minimising the countdown to look on at the weight resting on his chest. It was Connor and he was holding something…

It was a lot of effort to focus on whatever it was and when he finally did the horror of why he was so close to a shut down dawned on him. Connor was holding his thirium pump, just out of reach. Markus knew that without even attempting to grab for it but he tried anyway.

Connor immediately gripped onto Markus’ throat holding him down so that he couldn’t even lift his head. There wasn’t a shred of recognition in Connors eyes. His pupils were dilated, and the irises were a hollow muted grey. His face held a look that was so foreign and alien that it struck Markus right to his core. Even before he deviated Connor always had a soft look on his face, but now that was gone. Replaced by a blank hard glare that seemed so misplaced on his features. It was like he was looking at a different person. 

1 minute 27 seconds until forced shutdown.

1 minute 26 seconds until forced shutdown. 

“Connor… Stop.” He rasped, his voice coming out barely above a whisper.

Connor didn’t show any kind of reaction that he had heard anything Markus had said. He didn’t even grip his throat tighter, it remained steady and with the same amount of uncaring force. 

Robotic, Markus’ mind unhelpfully responded with. He would have laughed if Connor’s hand hadn’t been on his throat. He was going into shock.

1 minute until forced shutdown.

59 seconds until forced shutdown.

Markus reached out for the pump, doing his best in a last-ditch effort to hopefully overpower Connor. It was an impossible feat, and he knew that, but he was desperate.

I don’t want to die.

38 seconds until forced shutdown.

37 seconds until forced shutdown.

Markus grabbed onto a bit of exposed skin on the arm Connor was using to grip his throat. He pushed forward with an interface, a last-ditch effort to reach Connor. He was desperate for something, anything. Any kind of sign that the Connor he loved was still in there.

Markus was met with nothing. Not even a dulled down version of Connor’s usual head-space. It was like he had suddenly be transported into a world where there was nothing, no light, no sound, no feeling. He felt wrong and like the interface was sucking everything out of him as well.

Markus could feel himself being pulled out and moments before he was forced out, he screamed out Connor’s name. it was like cutting through all that was going on and for a brief second, he felt Connor again. His Connor.

7 seconds until forced shutdown.

He felt hollow, Markus could feel his life being drawn away and yet he felt at peace. He had gotten to feel Connor once more, one more time before the end and that was enough.

6 seconds until forced shutdown.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination anymore, but he thought that Connor was letting go. Maybe it was just his senses finally turning down.

5 seconds until forced shutdown.

He felt light and airy. He felt at peace.

4 seconds until forced shutdown.

He smiled a little, he felt warm.

3 seconds until forced shutdown.

Markus felt slight shifting on top of him, he didn’t like it. Why couldn’t he just be left to die…

2 seconds…

The message faded away and all he felt was pain. All his senses came back to him at once and he felt beyond overwhelmed. 

His visions came back to him slowly, still blurry. He couldn’t see Connor anymore, he didn’t feel him. Had he left?

Markus placed a hand on his chest, his pump was back. The feeling of thirium between his fingers felt wrong. That was his. That was part of him, and he had almost died. He almost died and he hadn’t fought back.

It felt awful to have to come to terms with that.

Then, just like that, Connor was back. He looked like he had been crying. 

Still thoroughly out of it, Markus gave no resistance when Connor force fed him thirium... his systems were happy with the levels going up, slowly climbing back to an adequate level, and then topping off to the maximum. Only then did Connor stop and wrap him in his arms tightly.

Having regained enough consciousness Markus reciprocated the hug and the two just lay there in an awkward slightly stiff embrace. Both having to come to terms with what they had done.

“I’m so sorry…” Connor said after a while, his voice barely above a whisper.

“It wasn’t your fault… you weren’t in control…” Markus reassured, trying not to think of the empty void that he had been faced with when interfacing. 

Connor didn’t seem all that convinced but didn’t say anything, just checked over Markus’s pump and cleaned away some of the rapidly drying thirium with his sleeve. It reminded him of the way that Connor had described hank, bottling it all in so no one would have to feel responsible. It both hurt Markus to witness and made him sympathise more with Connor. At least he had experience with how to deal with this. Markus felt totally out of his element. People had always just been drawn to tell him their life stories and issues, he never had to work all that hard to make them open up. 

“Connor we need to talk about this…” He tried cautiously.

“Tomorrow… you need to rest. I’m going to stay with hank for the night…” 

That stung. Reasonably, yes he knew that it would be safer for Connor to be far away from him but that didn’t mean he wanted that.

Markus held onto his arm. “Stay… please…”

“I tried to kill you Markus! I cant be around you!” Connor snapped.

“It wasn’t your fault. You wouldn’t ever voluntarily hurt me. I know you Connor, you’re a good person”

“That doesn’t change the fact it still happened… I’m still dangerous to you…”

Markus held onto him loosely. “I don’t care… nothing could ever make me stop loving you… lets just go to sleep and we can sort this all out tomorrow morning. We can fix whatever this is, together. We’ve both gone through worse…”

Connor let out an uneasy chuckle, and finally relented. He allowed Markus to pull him back down, though he remained stiff and uncomfortable. It hurt Markus to his core to know Connor was going through so much and attempted to soothe him by rubbing small circles into his side.

Neither wanted to be the first to re-enter stasis but eventually they drifted off to spend the rest of the night in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewrite this chapter since my laptop deleted the files, honestly it was the biggest pain and I have moved to using google docs so this doesn't happen again. 
> 
> Thanks again for all the positive feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

When Markus woke the next morning he wasn't really expecting Connor to be in bed next to him, but was still disappointed by his absence anyway. It’s better than being woken up with him trying to kill me, he thought grimly as he pulled himself up and out of bed to start looking around for Connor.

He didn't think the other would just up and leave, even if he was feeling that sort of guilt. Connor had a lot here in Detroit, even if it wasn't all Markus so he would have at least gone to Hank first before leaving.

Luckily for Markus, it wasn't that bad and he found Connor in the art room. He couldn't help a small smile, glad someone else could find comfort in his paintings. Carl would have been proud.

Markus approached slowly, he knew Connor was aware of his presence and that just encouraged him to be more careful. Not that he was dangerous, but more that he didn't want to spook Connor or accidentally trigger whatever it was that had happened.

“Connor…? We should talk…” He kept his voice steady and welcoming, making sure the other android knew that he wasn't mad at him for anything.

Connor let out a frustrated sigh and turned to Markus. That was another thing Markus loved about Connor, that just made him seem more human. Few androids ever consciously made it appear that they were breathing, it was a lot of work and often it had just been pre-programmed from their jobs before to make them come off more comforting and human. Connor had no reason to, but he did anyway. He had picked up a lot of attitude from Hank and Markus loved seeing it. Not this time, because he knew it was more than their usual petty arguments that could be resolved fairly easily. 

No, markus knew that this time it was different and that sigh held a lot more weight.

“Markus… I… We do need to talk. I don't think i should be alone with you, or anywhere near you. It's too dangerous.”

His words felt like a knife to the heart, it wasn't anything he hadn't already been predicting but to hear the words come out of Connor's mouth hurt.

He shook his head, “No. Let's not go that far yet, we don't even know what happened yet, you aren't dangerous, Connor. I trust you.” 

Markus kept edging forward slowly, as if Connor was a wounded animal and would bolt at whatever chance he was given. He had never seen Connor look so fragile. Sure he got emotional, and he had seen him upset before but never to this extent. The closest Markus could pinpoint was when they spoke in the church, and Connor seemed so desperate to prove himself in his new found deviancy. It had all seemed so much easier then, the individual personal conflicts were not anywhere near as serious as the revolution that Markus was steering and in some ways it was a welcomed relief. Not now though.

The emotions were the hardest part, they had time to sit and evolve. There was no great revolution that took over every part of everyone's being, they had normal lives now. And with normal lives came normal, world shattering issues.

Not for the first time did Markus wonder whether being awake was worth the struggles they all had to go through. It was a stupid thought, and he knew it, but the doubts crept in when he let his guard down for too long.

He was grateful that Connor let him get close, but couldn't help but frown when he flinched away when Markus attempted to hold him. That was off the tables then, he could deal with that.

“You aren't going anywhere… Connor, we can fix this, whatever it is. You deserve the same chance the rest of us got.” Markus reassured, hoping that it would get through to Connor who didn't seem all that there. Not in the same way as last night, but he just seems zoned out. Like he wasn't listening.

“Markus…” Connor replied weakly, too exhausted to even give a proper response. The stress was eating away at him and he just couldn't deal with it. I finally understand why Hank drank so much, he thought bitterly.

“We can see someone about this… get whatever code is up there causing this to be deleted.” Markus promised, not making another move. Wanting to wait until the other was ready to initiate anything more.

“What if it can't be deleted? What if it's just me?” Connor asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Then we can deal with that too, but Connor… What happened last night, that wasn't you. I know it wasn't, I saw what happened, I saw what happened in the interface. You wouldn't do that.”

“BUT I DID!” Connor yelled abruptly. “I tried to kill you, Markus! Twice now! That can't be forgiven!” Tears welled up in his eyes.

“You were not in control… You wouldn't choose to do that, I know you Connor…” Markus’ voice didn't betray him with the emotions coursing through him. He couldn't stand it though and scooped Connor into a hug which just caused Connor to break down.

He all but collapsed in Markus’ arms sobbing. Connor wasn't a pretty crier, and he was glad it didn't happen often. It was too much, he didn't deserve this sort of forgiveness, he was certain of that much. Anyone else would have him locked up, but not Markus. Not wonderful forgiving Markus.

Connor didn't notice when or how they ended up on the floor, but by the time he did he was finally beginning to calm himself down. Nothing felt particularly solved but he still felt better, he still felt safe and like he had a place to belong.

Markus was still rocking him gently, rubbing small circles in Connor’s back, just being patient. He knew it had to be a lot to deal with and was in no hurry to pull Connor out of this. There was no need to, they had all the time in the world. Markus would see the world come to a complete stop if it meant that Connor had enough time to just feel. He deserved that much at least, and Markus would do whatever he had to to see that become a reality.

Connor took a deep shaky breath and sat up, a clear sign that he was done with his emotional outburst. He liked setting boundaries like that, to have rules and signs to show what was happening. It made his deviancy easier on him, since he was built specifically to be against that. There was a lot that Markus found endearing, but he loved picking up on the signs Connor used to express himself, it felt rewarding to pick up on things like that.

Leaning in, Markus placed a small kiss to his cheek. “Connor? Are you feeling alright?” He asked softly.

“I want to see a specialist. Someone who knows more than I do about my programming.” Connor said with a sense of determination. “They can help me…”

Markus nodded in agreement, glad that Connor was looking to get help rather than just resign himself to being broken. “Alright, I’ll start asking around and sort you out an appointment.” He promised and gave Connor a small squeeze.

He was met with a forced smile from Connor, who clearly wasn't okay with how comfortable Markus was around him. “I trust you, Connor… You stopped before, I know you can again”

Connor just nodded slowly, not wanting to say the obvious. That it had almost been too late, if he had been a moment slower it would have all been over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long, I ended up getting a new laptop since mine was pretty busted and lost all motivation to write. But it's here, and I'm working on a second story that might just be a one shot, who knows at the moment.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Feedback is always welcome!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to Jericho in search of answers.

The first place they decided to go was New Jericho. Markus was reluctant to go straight to Cyberlife, since they had been fairly tense since the revolution, he had a feeling they had something to do with this but couldn't be the one to accuse them. Not without proof. He was hoping there would be a big marker in Connor’s programming, a marker that just shouts ‘LOOK THIS WAS ALL DONE BY CYBERLIFE YOU CAN BLAME THEM’. 

Realistically, he knew it would never be that easy. The people behind Cyberlife weren’t idiots, and they wouldn't be caught out that easily. But he still couldn't help the hope that they could get it all fixed, that they could just go back to living a normal boring life. He resented the fact that he had gotten bored with nothing happening, Markus would give anything to go back to there not being anything happening again. For there to be the option for him to be bored by day to day life and not have to worry about whether he would lose Connor to whatever this thing was.

Markus ignored the protesters who stood outside the entrance. There were always protesters, even with things getting better there were just some stubborn people who couldn't see them as people. 

When he got stressed, Markus would often imagine giving in to the urges for violence. It would be easy to do, it would be an easy change and they would be in their right after their people had been slaughtered. But that wouldn't work, he couldn't do that because that could be used against them. It could be painted that all they wanted to do was hurt people. It wouldn't work, but that didn't stop Markus wishing that it would, that revenge was a good option for the revolution to have gone on.

Connor didn't seem to have as easy of a time ignoring the protesters, he looked genuinely torn up over everything and them chanting about androids being evil isn't helping. Markus kept an arm firmly around him and picked up his pace a little. 

“Don't listen to them, Connor. You know what they're saying isn’t true…” Markus knew it was a bit of a hopeless case. When Connor wanted to dig in his heels and be stubborn he would do so, and of course this had to be one of those times.

Markus led him right to the medical wing, since that seemed like the best place to go. Generally they didn't have to do much to anyone’s coding, but every so often people wanted things removed, most often the Traci’s, so they knew how to isolate and delete things to a competent level.

Markus got a still largely unresponsive Connor onto one of the beds. He didn't want to leave his side, as he could tell being around more people was stressing Connor out. He could understand why they didn't know if he was going to target all deviants or only Markus. 

He settled on giving his hand a small squeeze. “Wait here? I’ll go and find Josh and we can work on getting all of this sorted out.” He offered a small smile and went looking for Josh. It didn’t take long to find and explain what was happening, and soon enough the taller android wheeled over a cart with the things they would need to isolate the code.

“Connor?” Josh asked, pulling up a chair to sit in front of him. “Are you feeling alright?”

Connor chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, “Not really… But it's okay… It’ll be fine… once this is gone. Markus said you guys know how to get rid of this kind of stuff?” He sounded so genuinely hopeful, and Markus couldn’t help but be nervous if this didn’t work.

“We’ve done something like this before.” Josh explained, taking Connors arm and plugging in some ports to start looking over the code. “I’ll have to interface with you so we can isolate the part of the coding causing the… Issue. But it’s all routine, we know what we’re doing.”

Connor was comforted by the confidence and certainty in Josh’s voice. He had always liked Josh, he was such a generally lovely guy and Connor trusted him entirely, he had seen his previous work with other androids. That didn’t mean that he wasn't still nervous, after all this was different. Connor couldn't find the code himself, he couldn't pinpoint what it actually was that was causing this. But he chalked that up to not having the right tech for it, after all there were plenty of specific details about himself that he didn't know.

Josh pulled up the code and with a smile began the interface with Connor. 

It started to work, the code popped up on the screen after a few moments but Josh looked troubled by it. “It's more advanced than what I was expecting… It’s huge…” He clicked through and tried to isolate it, but every time he started to make any kind of progress the code started to change and push back against the walls he was building up.

The frustration was evident on Josh’s face and it made Markus nervous, he stared at the coding and even though he didn’t know what was going on it wasn’t going well.

Then, the code practically exploded out and Josh let out a started yelp and pulled his hand away from the interface. 

“Josh…? Is everything okay?” Markus asked worriedly, putting a hand on his friend’s back to try and comfort him from whatever had happened. He was too distracted in that moment to see Connor getting up and ripping out the wiring. 

He didn't notice until Connor tackled him to the ground and started hitting him. Markus immediately brought his hands up to grab Connor’s hand, the two struggling against each other. 

It was an entirely uneven fight. Markus was holding back, not wanting to damage Connor in any way that wasn't necessary while Connor was there threshing about and doing everything in his power to break him.

Connor let out a loud, guttural scream that was corrupted by static and headbutted Markus.

This finally got Josh to act and pull Connor off, restraining him as best as possible as Connor kicked and squirmed throwing his entire weight into trying to get away. He was stronger and heavier than Josh, but even so Josh did a good job at keeping him back.

Markus rushed over and held Connor’s face. “Connor? Connor come back to me.” He said firmly, trying to force an interface and being met by the same nothingness as before. It was draining but he didn’t let up. Markus just kept pushing further and further until he could feel Connor.

It was faint and he was pulled out by Connor managing to kick him away but knowing that he could reach him was some form of comfort.

“Markus?! What do we do?” Josh snapped, clearly struggling to keep Connor back. The thrashing android had somehow managed to draw blood from somewhere which made his grip start to loosen involuntarily.

“I… I don't know…” Markus admitted, his voice small and weak. He didn't know how to help connor. He didn't know what had brought him back before, and he didn't know what it would take.

They were starting to draw attention, other androids coming in and freezing up at the sight. Markus vaguely recognised some of them as android’s Connor had awoken. He couldn't blame them for not wanting to get involved right away.

Eventually though, Connor did finally calm down. It happened all at once, he just went limp in the arms of the three androids holding him down, Josh, Markus and a passerby. None of them seemed prepared to let up right away, what if this was just a fake out.

Eventually though Markus let go and pushed the others off, helping a very confused Connor sit back up.

“What happened…? Why am I on the floor… Did it work?” His voice still crackled with static and stuttered over some points.

“It happened again, Con…” Markus said reluctantly. The look that came across Connor’s face was unmistakable. It was heartbreaking, he looked so ashamed and defeated.

Markus slowly helped him up, getting him sat back on the bed and dismissing the crowd that had accumulated to watch. He knew this would get out, he could at least trust that it wouldn't get out past Jericho. It wouldn't reach the humans yet, and there was a certain safety in that.

Connor wasn’t responsive again, horrified at his attempted actions. He frantically wiped his hands on his trousers, the thirium coating them leaving deep blue smudges. Markus could see that the wounds were from him, where he had pushed too hard against the restraint that Josh had him in and had pushed his cuff-link into his arm. 

Markus wasted no time in wrapping it up, trying to avoid the flinch that Connor gave when touched and the oppressive silence. He knew Josh wanted to say something, but Markus didn’t want to hear it. He knew he would have to at some point, but for now he wanted to ignore it. To keep himself busy fixing what he could. 

That couldn't last forever, and once he had finished patching Connor up he knew he couldn't ignore it anymore. He turned to josh who, with a reluctant grimace towards connor said,

“Markus, we have to talk about this.”

With a sigh Markus nodded, “You should get North and Simon too, they’ll want to know…” ‘And be able to help make a decision.’ Markus thought to himself.

Josh glanced at Connor, not trusting him yet. Connor shrunk down under his gaze, it was expected but didn’t hurt any less.

“It’ll be fine, Josh, go and get them.” Markus prompted again, which finally got the other to leave to get the others.

Markus doubted the decision that would come from this would be easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being way longer than expected, and had to be split in half. The next chapter should be up soonish since it's all planned but don't expect too much hah. ;p  
> Thank you for reading, feedback is always appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions are made

Markus had never been so nervous about a conversation with his friends before. It was silly really, but he had a feeling they were all on very different pages this time. At least before they all had the same end goal, freedom for androids. Now it could go any way, and Connor’s life could be on the line.

He knew he was catastrophizing, but this time he didn't know what would happen. Markus could recognise that Connor was a danger to him and possibly others, and that the easiest way to fix that danger was to have Connor far far away from them (possibly even deactivated). But that would be against their whole movement. They couldn't blame Connor for something he did when not in control, he was following orders.

Markus had the sinking feeling that if they were to cave and take that way out Cyberlife would manage to spin it into a huge publicity storm. He could almost see the headlines already: ‘Androids deactivate one of their leaders’. It wouldn't matter why they did it, it would look bad on them no matter what.

No, Markus was determined not to let that happen. They had to get Connor help, if they could do this to him there was nothing stopping them from making whatever this virus was widespread. Markus couldn't help wonder why they hadn’t, the androids wouldn't be able to deal with this on a large scale. They would lose whatever safety they had and if they couldn't trust each other then it was a lost cause. 

Cyberlife weren’t stupid, there had to be a reason why this wasn’t widespread. It would be too easily traceable if it was, they'd be able to get more proof. Keeping it exclusive to Connor made more sense, he already had the unfortunate title of deviant hunter. It would be easier to spin against androids if he fell back into his nature.

The thought made Markus shudder. The sound of the door closing pulled him out of his thoughts and he stood a little straighter as North, Simon and Markus came into the room. Connor was still in the other room, having to recharge. Whatever these bursts were they sapped his battery. It was meant to last a full month, but had gone down to near nothing in a matter of a few days since his last recharge. Another form of worry for Markus that was pushed to the backburner for now.

“Markus? What’s all this about? Josh wouldn't tell us anything, said you wanted to be the one to explain it.” Simon started, sparing a glance to an obviously still troubled Josh. Markus had the feeling that he had seen something from the interface, and had every intention on demanding answers later.

Markus took a deep breath and started to explain everything they knew so far about Connor’s situation. It wasn't much, he didn't know if Connor was a threat to everyone, what was the actual cause of all of this, or how to best cope with this. But he still did his best to sound like he knew what he was talking about. It was a talent he had picked up and really focused on so people wouldn't be able to figure out he was just as clueless for what to do as everyone else.

There was a brief moment of silence as the others took it in. Markus examined their faces, suspense boiling in his stomach. It was hard to exactly pinpoint what they were thinking but he could tell they were all conflicted. He didn’t blame them, if it were anyone else Markus knew he would be more critical but he loved connor and didn't want him hurt. Emotions made making what he knew the right decision hard.

Simon was the first to speak up, “So… He blacks out and tries to kill you?” He confirmed. 

Markus gave a curt nod. 

“Then he can’t be left around you. You mean too much the revolution to put you in more harm, you don't know what causes the shift. Until then we cant let this happen.”

“He doesn't deserve to be treated like a villain. Can you imagine how bad that would look if it got out? Us treating one of our own like that because of programming?” Markus interjected.

“He isn't wrong, Markus. Simon wasn’t saying we deactivate Connor, but there has to be some precautions in place. He’s… Dangerous.” Josh tried to reason.

“Precautions like cutting him off from everyone? It’s not right Josh. I didn't expect this from you of all people.” North cut in.

Josh averted his gaze. He’s hiding something, Markus thought, he wouldn't say something like that without good reason, not when he was so focused on peace throughout the revelation. 

Simon clearly had the same thought process as Markus and put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “You found something out when you interfaced didn’t you? Please tell us… We just want to help.”

Markus sometimes envied the way that Simon could just sound so effortlessly reassuring.

“When he… Changed…? We were still in the interface… I don’t know how to explain it.” Josh let out a frustrated groan and Simon rubbed his back gently, encouraging but patient. “It was like he stopped existing? Not that he had died… But he was replaced by something that wasn’t him. I couldn't find where he went, it wasn't like there was a process. He was just suddenly replaced by something else… And this other thing was so similar to him. It felt familiar, but it wasn’t Connor. I don't think there is a way to get through to him when he's like that. Whatever this thing was its not finished. I mean it wasn't meant to take control in the way it was. It felt desperate.”

Markus didn’t know what to make of that, he didn’t like the implication of there not being a way to get through to Connor, but what he said made sense. It lined up with the completely different experience of interfacing when Connor wasn’t himself. 

“So what? There's another programme in Connor that’s trying to kill Markus? That sounds… a bit far fetched. Why is it only coming out now? Why is it even there?” North brought up, clearly troubled by the information. “Not that I don’t believe you Josh, but it just… Why him?”

“He was meant to hunt deviants, maybe it's a backup system?” Simon suggested. “It came online because he deviated?”

“But why now? Why hasn’t it happened before?” Josh pointed out.

North and Markus exchanged a nervous look, this had happened before, they had just kept it on the down low. Why make a big deal out of it if they were the only ones who knew? Connor said he had it under control.

Simon clearly picked up on this and grimaced. “Why didn’t you tell us it happened before Markus?! This proves he is a danger!”

“This is why we didn’t tell anyone, there was no need to! He said he had it under control so we believed him.” Markus replied firmly. “It doesn’t matter whether this happened, we aren’t treating Connor like he’s a criminal. That's not up for discussion. I was telling you all because I thought you had the right to know. None of this changes anything, he is still our friend and we are going to treat him the same as we would anyone else.”

“You know that's not what you’re doing here Markus. If this was happening to anyone else Connor wouldn't be allowed around them! We can’t have you putting yourself in danger like this for no reason!”

“Where do you expect for him to go then? He wont stay here on his own.”

“He can live with lieutenant Anderson! There is no reason for Connor to go after him, he’s a police officer so if anything goes wrong he can get back up fast and he isn't a deviant. Connor would be safer there than anywhere, and so would you.”

Markus was silent, he wasn’t wrong. Connor staying with Hank would make sense but it felt like admitting defeat and announcing that he didn’t trust Connor anymore.

“I think it's a good idea.” Connor said which caused everyone’s heads to swivel to where he stood at the door. “The last thing I want is for Markus to get hurt. I know Hank would be able to… Prevent that if things get out of hand.”

“Connor… It isn’t fair!” Markus insisted, “You're Not the bad guy here!”

Connor shook his head, “I can’t control it, it is fair. I’m not being deactivated. It’s the safest thing for everyone. I’ll talk to Hank about it and get this all set up.” He said it with such an air of certainty that Markus knew trying to argue would be pointless. He felt like he was losing. Connor moved over and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s okay Markus… This is just temporary. Until this is fixed.” He promised.

It made his heart ache, but all he did was hug back tightly trying to ignore how tense everyone else was that they were so close. He hated the way that this made them look at Connor and he almost regretted telling them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look I think I finally know what's happening in this story. Do I have any clue how long it'll be? Nope. I'm just making this all up as I go but hey, it's all fun.  
> Hank should be in the next chapter though, yay!
> 
> Thank you for reading! Any feedback is welcome and I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
